Awilo Longomba
His father, influenced by his views on contemporary musicians as dissolute figures, often clothed himself in sartorial splendor and ardently discouraged his son from pursuing a music career.
[44] During his residency in Paris, Longomba encountered prejudiced attitudes towards Afro-French and became increasingly resentful of the emergence of Jean-Marie Le Pen's movement, which accentuated the pervasiveness of racism in France, particularly within political factions like the National Front.
[44] In a 1996 interview with historian James A. Winders of Appalachian State University, Longomba noted "....I saw that there was discrimination coming from the prefecture-how they spoke to people, to Africans, to others who did not understand French well.
[52][25] He was the album's composer, lead vocalist, and drummer, while Ballou Canta and Shimita provided backing vocals, and Miguel Yamba, Ngouma Lokito, and Pablo Lubadika Porthos contributed on bass guitar.
[50][6] Moto Pamba also featured guitars by Lokassa Ya M'Bongo, Emmanuel Samba, Rigo Star, Dally Kimoko, and Syran Mbenza, with mixing by Thierry Doumergue and percussion by 3615 Niaou and Mavungu Malanda.
[54] Despite the album's success, Longomba continued to work as a drummer for various artists, including Gabonese singer Oliver N'Goma and Tshala Muana's backup group.
[25] In 1996, Longomba further promoted the album through a live performance at Parc de la Villette in Paris and subsequently won the Best Artist of Central Africa at the first edition of the Kora Awards.
[57][58] The album was produced by Jip Productions and distributed in multiple formats, such as compact disc and cassette, across several countries, including France, Ivory Coast, and Kenya.
[50][58] Comprising ten tracks, Coupé Bibamba was arranged by Lazare Gamand and Ntoumba Minka, and includes backing and leading vocals by Jocelyne Béroard, Guy-Guy Fall, Tutu Callugi, Abby Surya, Awa Maïga, Lidjo Kwempa, Marilyn Komba, Patricia Aubou, and Alain Mpéla Yoka.
[18][12][62] The album's eponymous techno-soukous-infused-single, which featured Jocelyne Béroard, became a massive hit in Africa and Europe, as well as among diaspora communities worldwide, and remains a timeless classic in African music.
[39] In an interview with the Daily Nation, Longomba expressed that "Coupé Bibamba" urges young people to pursue education, attend church, and have faith in themselves to combat poverty in Africa.
[4][65] "Coupé Bibamba" success enabled Longomba to embark on an East African tour in early 1999, with sold-out performances in Tanzania, including shows in Dar es Salaam, Moshi, Arusha, and Mwanza.
[54] Due to overwhelming public demand, he extended his stay, and numerous fans were unable to gain entry to his debut show at the Diamond Jubilee Upanga in Dar es Salaam.
[54] "Coupé Bibamba" also augmented Longomba's visibility in West Africa, where it led to interpretations in various native languages, including Yoruba, Igbo and Nigerian Pidgin.
[24][66] As reported by This Day, his music gained substantial recognition in southern Nigeria and swiftly proliferated to the north, where "every verse of the Koran, Hausa children know two lines of Comment tu t'appelle".
This led to Longomba's performance at Zénith de Paris alongside Jocelyn Lorette Brown, Oliver Cheatham, Jerome Prister, Imagination and Anita Ward, all of whom were part of World Tribute to the Funk.
The album was supported by hit singles "Karolina", "Zumbeya", "Mupenzi", "Pinzoli", "Gladys", "Kayembe", "Mondongo", "Champion", "Mia Muliere", and "Dance Floor".
[12][25][79] Longomba promoted the album with sold-out shows in Harare, Bulawayo, and Chitungwiza towards the year's end, alongside Zimbabwean singer Alick Macheso.
[82] In March 2005, Longomba took the stage at the Africa Live 2005 concert, a malaria-fighting event hosted at the Iba-Mar-Diop Stadium, where he performed in front of 40,000 people with other co-performers including Youssou N'Dour, Orchestra Baobab, Tinariwen, Didier Awadi, Corneille, Salif Keita, Rokia Traoré, Manu Dibango, and Seun Kuti.
[85] In July next year, Longomba performed in Libreville as part of the Amissa Bongo Foundation and Iriscom International's second edition of the Nuit de la Musique.
[96] On 5 May 2014, in celebration of his birthday, Longomba debuted an audio preview of his new single, "Bundele", which was co-produced by London-based BA Nuisance and Nigerian producer TeeBeeO.
[103] On 25 December 2018, Longomba was featured on BM's remix of "Rosalina", which sparked a global dance trend on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, with professional and amateur dancers showcasing their best moves.
[114] In November 2022, Longomba collaborated with Werrason, Reddy Amisi, Rebo Tchulo, Jeannot Bombenga, Héritier Watanabe, M'bilia Bel, Sista Becky, Poison Mobutu, Mianda Kabamba and Samarino on "Allons Tous Nous Faire Enrôler", a song composed for CENI's campaign to raise awareness among the population about the identification and enrollment operation for the 2023 Democratic Republic of the Congo general election.
[123][124] However, as the festival neared its ending during Longomba's set, an incident involving teenage boys discharging pellet guns incited pandemonium among the crowd, which abruptly terminated the event.
